The city of Bordeaux is a jewel, with vestiges from the Roman era and medieval town gates. However, the 18th century was its golden age. Victor Hugo once said: “Take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux.”

Pictures: Visiting Bordeaux City

Bordeaux is often referred to as "Little Paris". Baron Haussmann, a long-time prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux’s 18th century, big-scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform a then still quasimedieval Paris into a “modern” capital that would make France proud.

The city was ruled by the English for a long time, which is why Bordeaux seems to have an "English flair". After the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bordeaux came under English rule between 1152 and 1453. It was then that the British first developed their taste for Claret, as the red Bordeaux wine is called in the UK.

The city has recently been classified by UNESCO as an “outstanding urban and architectural ensemble”.Bordeaux has a million inhabitants, including a lively university community of over 60,000.

Pictures: Visiting Bordeaux City

Bordeaux is a flat city, built on the left banks of the Garonne. The Garonne merges a dozen kilometers below the city with the Dordogne to form the Gironde, which is biggest estuary in France. The two main entertainment spots are: (1) Formerly inhabited by wine merchant warehouses, the docks (les quais) are now home to gardens, bike and skate paths, boutiques, museums, cafés, bars and restaurants. (2) La Victoire is the other area for entertainment: Historical monuments meet student life and bars. Most of the pubs and bars of the town are here. Virtually, all the shops in the surroundings of this area are bars.

Run and owned by two charming Italians, Giancarlo Savini and Emmanuel Cadei, and their French wives, the wine list also includes many wines from Italy and other countries. A cosy, small place. The food is charcuterie and cheese. Le Wine Bar is an excellent location to enjoy a glass on an outdoor terrace.

Le Bar a Vin is located on the ground floor of the Maison du Vin de Bordeaux, diagonally opposite the Grand Théatre. Le Bar a Vin is one of the few wine bars open all day. However, if you are interested in premium Bordeaux wines, this is not the place to go. Le Bar a Vin does not showcase the wines of the perhaps 400 producers people talk about in the world, but the wines of the 15.000 or so other producers that also make excellent wines. Most wines are around Euro 3 per glass including tax and service.

The menu - updated every several weeks - includes about 20 Bordeaux wines, all served by the glass only. But Le Bar a Vin also serves one or two premium wines; we had the 4. Cru Classé en 1855 Château Lafon Rochet 2007 at €8. The food menu is plates of charcuterie, and cheeses for Euro 6.

Pictures: At Le Bar a Vin

Max Bordeaux Wine Gallery

14 Cours de l'Intendance

Not too far away from Le Bar a Vin is Max Bordeaux Wine Gallery, just the opposite of Le Bar a Vin. The enomatic system contains wines of the 400 producers or so that are known all over the world. For higher-end wines, Max Bordeaux is the place to go. If you have questions, a wall-mounted iPad offers fact sheets and wine critics’ tasting notes about every single wine, in English. However, no casual seating or food is available. Also, Max Bordeaux closes early in the evening (8 pm).

Pictures: At Max Bordeaux

Restaurant la Terrasse Saint Pierre

7 place Saint Pierre

Still the place to go on a Friday and Saturday evening, is the buzzy St Pierre district in the heart of Old Bordeaux. The historic centre of the city is brimming with shops, restaurants and bars. One of the many restaurants is the Restaurant la Terrasse Saint Pierre. I have never eaten there. I go there for the wine list, which is quite interesting.

Picture: At Restaurant la Terrasse Saint Pierre

Aux Quatres Coins Du Vin

8 Rue de la Devise

Like Max Bordeaux Wine Gallery, wines are also dispensed with the enomatic system and, more like Le Bar a Vin, this cute wine bar offers more affordable wines. Unlike both Le Bar a Vin and Max Bordeaux Wine Gallery, its selection includes also non-Bordeaux wines - 32 different wines: 8 whites, 8 red from Bordeaux, 8 red from other parts of France and 8 red from abroad. In addition, you can always order a bottle from the 130 references wine list. Aux Quatres Coins Du Vin also serves cheese and charcuterie platters, but not a full meal. A hipp, young crowd.

Antony Peregrine (The Telegraph): On one of the key old streets in the St Pierre district, La Brasserie (5) is the sort of eatery where no one’s sure whether it’s food or conviviality which has the upper hand. The place has barrels as tables, bottles along every wall and the buzz of locals tackling great meat and shellfish as if decibels were desirable. This is not the setting for your romantic dinner à deux – but if you want Bordelais bustle and a sense that you’re at the centre of things, you could do very much worse. There’s also a surprisingly satisfactory wine list, plus a selection of cognacs and armagnacs to satisfy the most exacting.

Picture: La Brasserie Bordelaise

Wine More Time

8 Rue St. James

Wine Shop and Wine Bar

Winerist: With a wine list that changes frequently, Wine More Time is a wine store, a wine bar and a temple to all things wine. Offering a wide range of French wines at reasonable prices, the bar also offers a unique selection of beers and spirits as well as deli plates. With its dedicated tasting space, they offer specialised wine courses and planned tastings and can organize private events.

Picture: At Wine More Time

Le Flacon

43 rue Cheverus

Tom Mullen – Drink like a local in Bordeaux (Forbes): Julien led us into Le Flacon, a deceptively unassuming locale within the city center with hundreds of carefully selected niche wines. Wonderful aromas blew off steaming dishes from the open kitchen, where owners Gilles Davasse and his wife Valerie prepare food. We sipped glasses of Antoine Sanzay Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley and nibbled from a plate of charcuterie, though dishes available range from burgers to crispy pig’s feet. The location is well suited for kicking off an evening of exploring this intriguing city.

Picture: Le Flacon

Le Petit Bois

18, rue du Chai-des-Farines

Oonagh Turner - 10 Best Wine Bars in Old Town Bordeaux: People are drawn to this magical bar for its romantic allure, intimate setting and its fantastic wine list. The décor is original, with a beautiful tree strung with fairy lights in the heart of the bar serving as an artistic centerpiece. Relax with a glass of fine wine on the plush sofas and enjoy the enchanting setting that is dimly lit with gentle candlelight. To complement the wine list, customers can choose from a selection of charcuterie, or the plat du jour.

Pictures: Le Petit Bois

Vins Urbans

27 Rue des Bahutiers

Formerly Vinset, a new wine bar just around the corner of Le Wine Bar.

Trip Advisor: It doesn't look much from the front - a slot in the streetfront. It opens up in the back. Warm welcome from owner, good range of 20+ very good wines by the glass, plus tapas stype snacks.

Pictures: Vins Urbans

Le Boutique Hotel Wine Bar

3 Rue Lafaurie Monbadon

Winerist: A small and cozy bar in the lobby of a Boutique Hotel in the city center, this wine bar is a great experience for the adventurous wine lover. Here also the waiters don’t offer you a menu, rather they ask what type of wine you prefer and bring you a bottle with a hidden label. You then can taste and attempt to discover the varietal, vintage and production area, which isn’t always even in France. In addition, the bar offers tapas and deli plates as well as a garden seating area for the warm summer months.

Picture: Le Boutique Hotel Winebar

Verre o Vin

43 Rue Borie, (Chartrons)

Winerist: Located just down the street from the Wine Museum in Chartrons, Verre o Vin is a small local bar with an amazing offering. Carved into the historic limestone buildings of the city’s ancient wine district, Verre o Vin offers both bottle service and wines by the glass served from Enomatic machines. There is also a small but high quality menu of farm-to-table deli plates and regional items, like foie gras, to accompany your tasting.

Pictures: Verre O Vin

La Ligne Rouge

6 Rue de la Porte Cailhau

Oonagh Turner - 10 Best Wine Bars in Old Town Bordeaux: This bar is a small but homey establishment in the heart of the Bordeaux’s historical district. The wine list is diverse, with over 200 wines hailing from as far afield as the vineyards of South America. There is also a menu featuring a choice of cured meats, cheeses, simple but tasty salads and patés to pick from. The staff are attentive and friendly, carefully explaining the origins of wines and divulging the concept of the wine bar to customers. The barmen are also sure to listen to the requests of the guests, giving the bar an intimate touch.

Pictures: At La Ligne Rouge

Le Point Rouge

1 Quai de Paludate

Tom Mullen – Drink like a local in Bordeaux (Forbes): Opened seven months ago, this spacious and low-lit restaurant and bar differentiates from Bordeaux contenders by fusing an American/English cocktail culture with that of French food and wine. They sell 40 wines by the glass, a thousand by the bottle and over a hundred cocktails. Within this 5,300 square foot building, there are three distinct spaces, each for a separate phase of your visit. Begin with cocktails at the bar, pass to the restaurant for dinner and wine and then ascend stairs for a final digestif or cigar.

Touches of elegance include massive red lights from German designer Ingo Maurer, as well as a display of special Chivas Regal bottles (including one encrusted with dozens of diamonds and sapphires).

Tripadvisor: … trendy but tasteful little wine bar. Fantastic. Great tapas and wine list to die for. Great ambience. a must if you are in Bordeaux

Picture: Le Oenolimit

Latitude 20

La Cité du Vin

Open daily from 11.30 a.m to 11.30 p.m., Latitude 20 is a wine bar on La Cité du Vin’s ground floor with more than 50 different wines by the glass and a selection of tapas from around the world, a snack bar with a big choice of snacks for any time of day and a worldwide wine cellar with more than 14,000 bottles from more than 80 wine producing countries.

In addition, Restaurant Le 7 is on the 7th floor, with 500 bottles on the menu and 110 seats.

Pictures: At La Cité du Vin

Garopapilles

62 rue Abbé de l’Épée

Before opening Garopapilles, Chef Tanguy Laviale used to be the chef at Haut Bailly.

Tom Mullen – Drink like a local in Bordeaux (Forbes): “The whole place is off the beaten track,” Gaël Morand said inside this modern, airy restaurant with am light streaming through large windows. The Jay Hawkins song “I Put a Spell On You” played as he poured a glass of 2009 Château Marsau from the Côtes de Bordeaux Francs appellation, northeast of Saint Émilion. “Hundred percent Merlot,” he said. “I call it the modern style of Bordeaux. Easy to drink and not looking for power.”

Pictures: At Garopapilles

Morand worked as a diplomat in Paris and Geneva for a decade before deciding to shift to the food and wine scene of Bordeaux. He and chef Tanguy Laviale are business partners running this two-year-old restaurant/wine cellar. The interior seats 24, and there are 15 additional seats on the porch. What differentiates this restaurant is that the menu is fixed (though diners can opt to select their own wines). Visitors generally appreciate being led on this gastronomic discovery. … The wine list includes 500 bottles—80% of them non-Bordeaux, including selections of Muscadet and Beaujolais, and wines from Jura and Alsace. There is also a range of non-French choices.

Decanter: L’Univerre Wine Shop opened in April 2014 by Olivier Beyre. The restaurant was already well known for its extensive wine list, but now the bottles are available to buy and take off-premises, with an excellent range from Bordeaux, the Rhône, Burgundy, Germany, Austria… you name it.

The Wine Cellar Insider: L’Univerre known for its extensive wine list of Grand Crus Class wines as well as traditional wines from smaller producers. A more recent arrival to the wine bar scene in Bordeaux, L’Univerre is the brainchild of Fabrice Moisan. His curated menu is short, with well-executed dishes of classic French comfort food paired with an extensive wine list (which is 62 pages long!). While most Bordeaux wine bars stick to Bordeaux, that is not the case here as you can also find wines from the Rhone valley, Burgundy, the Loire as well. In the cellar are older vintage Bordeaux that are priced to sell and Fabrice is open to queries about his other rare bottles.

L'Intendant

2 Allées deTourney

Wine Store

Not a wine bar., but an amazing wine store of 4 levels connected by a single spiral staircase, just next to the Grand Hotel. The collection includes over 15,000 bottles.

Un Château En Ville, this small but lovely wine bar and shop was opened by Estelle Roumage of Château Lestrille in December 2017 on rue Saint James in Bordeaux’s old town.Read more at http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/opinion/news-blogs-anson/new-bordeaux-wine-bar-difference-384251/#1FhwmLtDX1OPJogX.99

Wine Tours

About Me

I live in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and write about wine. I am a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, I was for almost 30 years an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I am currently in Washington DC.